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RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining radiation therapy with chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells.

PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating patients who have previously untreated advanced cancer of the mouth, pharynx, or larynx.

Evaluate the activity of induction chemotherapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel followed by concurrent fluorouracil, hydroxyurea, paclitaxel, and hyperfractionated radiotherapy in terms of response rate, pattern of failure, time to progression, and overall survival in patients with previously untreated advanced oral, pharyngeal, or laryngeal cancer.

Assess this treatment regimen in terms of the pattern and degree of clinical acute, cumulative, and chronic toxic effects in this patient population.

Assess the rate of organ preservation in resectable patients treated with this regimen.

Evaluate the quality of life, organ function, and incidence of second primary tumors in patients treated with this regimen.

Assess the rate of complications with subcutaneously implanted IV infusion catheters in patients treated with this regimen.

At 1-2 weeks after completion of induction chemotherapy, patients receive oral hydroxyurea every 12 hours on days 1-6, fluorouracil IV continuously on days 1-5, radiotherapy twice daily on days 1-5, and paclitaxel IV over 1 hour on day 2. Treatment repeats every 2 weeks for 5 courses.

Patients with residual nodal disease or initially staged nodal disease in the absence of macroscopic residual disease undergo neck dissection after completion of chemoradiotherapy. Patients with residual disease at the primary site undergo complete excision of disease. Patients with disease progression or disease recurrence are considered for conventional surgical management.

Quality of life is assessed every 3 months for 6 months, every 6 months for 1.5 years, and then annually thereafter.

Patients are followed monthly for 1 year, every 2 months for 1 year, and then every 3 months thereafter.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 60 patients will be accrued for this study within 12-18 months.

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Layout table for eligibility information

Ages Eligible for Study:

15 Years to 80 Years (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

No

Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

Histologically or cytologically confirmed squamous cell or poorly differentiated carcinomas, or lymphoepithelioma of the head and neck